Avatar's Hope
by catgirl Serenity
Summary: Twenty years ago, Hope was born outside the walls of Ba Sing Se. Now she is a bounty hunter and looking to escape from a shadow she has lived under for her whole life. R&R T for violence


Disclaimer: I do not own _Avatar: The Last Airbender_ or any of the characters or franchise. This is my view of the future of the Avatar World and what Hope's life would have been like. I did not create the character Hope, but I did take some artistic liberties in telling her character development.

Summary: Twenty years ago Hope was born outside the walls of Ba Sing Se on the eve of the Fire Nation's invasion of the Earth Kingdom capital. Now a bounty hunter, she is trying to escape from the name and reputation of a man whose shadow she had lived in her whole life.

_Date: 6__th__ Day of Fall, AFN._

_ I am afraid I am rather new at this whole journal thing. I bought it on a whim to help keep long nights from being too long. I am not really sure where to start. If I am to keep a journal though I suppose I should begin by writing down a bit of personal history so I can set a tone for the rest of this._

_ My name is Hope. I was born just outside the walls of Ba Sing Se near the end of the great Fire Nation War. I grew up in the city of Ba Sing Se under the watchful eyes of my wonderful yet pious parents. Sometimes they are simply ridiculous; don't get me wrong, I appreciate the education they sometimes forced down my throat and I do love them, but they were determined to make me into their ideal and _that _I hated. I am almost proud to say that I did not meet those standards. _

_I'm not a bender, I've never been able to; needless to say my parents were upset. I think they always had this ridiculously unoriginal fantasy that the Avatar's Hope would be a great bender like him. _

_That was the first time I disappointed them._

_The second time was when I told them I was going to be a bounty hunter._

_ I think that hurt them the most. Needless to say bounty hunter is not the most respected carrier field to go into—not that it bothers me much, it was what I wanted more than anything. But I know it hurt my mom and dad. I think they expected more of me. They probably felt—and still feel—that it was beneath me and my "oh-so-holy" obligation to being the hope of the Avatar._

_ It's ridiculous how much that got played out of proportion, but I digress._

_ I left home almost four years ago, when I was sixteen, and since then I've done pretty good for myself. I finally got my license as a bounty hunter two year ago and right now I'm going after my thirty-something target. Not too bad, though I admit none of my targets have been that high on the bounty list—I think the highest was a C class, still I can't complain after all I am still new at this. _

_Let me tell you something though, despite the hard work and debts that come with being a bounty hunter I've never been happier in my life! It's nice to be free of my doting parents. I'm not particularly well off but I can make a little spare cash by performing on the streets and I've learned to eat smaller meals than I was use to. As a whole I am having a blast!_

_But I'm ready to take the next step, I'm ready to branch out a bit and expand my knowledge, and target selection, to a much larger domain. I'm ready to leave the walls of Ba Sing Se. _

"You ready yet?" a voice interrupted Hope's furious scribbling and she looked up to see her partner, Kana, standing over her. Noting the exasperated look on her friend's face Hope quickly stuffed her new journal into her bag and jumped up from her bed.

"You bet." She replied with a grin.

Kana, stubbornly unexpressive as ever, merely nodded, "Good, here's the most recent picture of our target."

Hope accepted the hand-sketched picture Kana passed her, "He's not exactly one who will stand out in a crowd is he?"

"That's why we'll have to be particularly alert today while we're scouting for him." Kana replied, "His pattern shows that he likes to strike around mid-day when the streets are full and busy."

"A risk taker, huh?"

"Not particularly." Kana replied, picking up her cloak and draping it over her shoulders, "Like you said he's extremely ordinary. He does not have the type of face anyone would pay attention to; the police have never received a great description on him."

Hope stared at her partner, "Then how did you get this?"

Kana cocked an eyebrow, "I said the police never received a good description of him, but if you know who to ask there is always someone who knows." She took the picture back from her partner, "While you were scoping the markets yesterday, I was interviewing our contacts. This is the sketch I came up with from all the descriptions."

Spirits what would I do without Kana as a partner, Hope wondered silently. The two girls had been partners for as long as they had been bounty hunters, they had met and formed their partnership within two weeks of getting their licenses: both had been tracking down the same thief, their combined skills had led to a successful catch and a strong friendship. Hope could not imagine where she would be without Kana's innate ability to gather and sort information. "Had a lot of them seen him?" she asked.

"Several had done business with our thief." Kana replied, examining the drawing she had long since committed to memory, "Since he'll probably strike in the middle of the day you'll be more or less on your own."

Hope pulled her short hair into a pony tail and tied it tight, "Okay, I'll go light today." She decided, examining the various knives on her bed. Though she was not a bender she had studied many of the forms and was more than skilled with blades, her weapon of preference being her saber claws. She slipped them into her belt, "Alright, shall we get going?"

Kana nodded and lead the way out of the apartment they shared, it was not one of the nicer homes the city had to offer but on their meager and irregular pay it was the best the pair could afford. Hope stared at the door as Kana locked it, "I can't wait to leave this place." The younger of the two sighed.

Kana flashed her partner a small smirk, "Too low-class for you, Avatar's Hope?"

Hope glared at her friend, "I thought I told you to drop that."

"And I _know_ I warned you about what would happen if you opened yourself too much to strangers." Kana replied coolly as they made their way out into the streets.

"But we've been partners for two years now!" Hope argued.

"Which alienates you from any forgiveness someone else might have offered." Kana's smirk was irritating at best, "You should have known better than to be so candid."

Hope snorted in laughter, "You're an ass, you know that right?"

Kana just smiled before turning and heading off down one of the many side alleys. Hope did not follow, instead she continued on her own path, heading for the heart of the town's market. It was as busy as usual, the wide street reduced to narrow alleys as the crowd filled the street. Hope had taken note of this their first day on this job, it was a problem she knew she would have to tackle when the time came. The challenge of urban jobs made being a bounty hunter that much better. She strolled idly through the market, not at all oblivious to the eyes that watched her. Since the thefts had begun it was turning into a growing habit for the richer shop keepers to higher mercenaries to act as doormen.

Not that it really worked, Hope reflected, the last theft happened right under the nose of three of those guys. She watched them just as carefully though not quite as obviously as she was being watched, if things might get sour on this mission if these men got involved and if she and Kana wanted full pay they would need to prevent too much of a public scene. Which was another reason for Kana's absence today, though she was a master of subtlety her art was anything but subtle.

It was noon when she finally caught some luck, to be more accurate she caught a glance. It took all of her self control not to spin around and start shouting when she realized she had just walked right past the thief. Kana was right, if she had not known what to look for Hope would have totally missed the guy. She continued down a few more stalls before turning around and trailing their thief.

This guy sure is confident, she thought as she watched the man, I don't care how good he is or how much he blends in with others, stealing in mid-day is just cocky.

Wait…where'd he go?

A wave of panic washed through Hope when she realized she had lost him. No, no, no! Casting about, she tried to relocate her target. She caught her brake when she saw him enter a shop, swallowing down her panic she followed as casually as possible. This would be the most important part, as no one had ever seen the guy actually steel anything it was vital that Hope either caught him in the act—which would be more desirable for her but more costly for the shop owner—or to catch him red handed. Though she knew the former situation would be the most ideal a part of her could not help but hope for the latter. If it came to the latter situation she was almost guaranteed a good chase and in her opinion it was the chase that made the catch that much more satisfying.

The bell over the door rang gently as she entered the store, she winced as she looked around at the delicately crafted ceramic pots. It would definitely be bad for the store owner if she caught the thief in here. Speaking of her evasive thief, she spotted him a lot quicker this time and positioned herself so she could watch him. Since none of the objects he had stolen, many of which had been quite pricey, had shown up on the black market or at any of the pawn shops the bounty hunting pair had concluded he was not a thief by need and the clothes he was wearing now confirmed it. They were not particularly flashy or nice, certainly no silk, but they were far too nice for a thief-by-need to be able to afford. If anything this made Hope all the more determined to catch him.

She examined a beautifully painted pot while keeping him in her line of sight. He was obviously a smart individual, he talked enough to the store manager to put him at ease but not enough for the man to remember him so that by the time he realized he had been robbed he would not remember the thief. Hope scanned the store looking for something that would stand out as a potential target. If their thief followed his profile he would steal something of high value that had few or no duplicates. It would also be one thing he would not ask about so the vase he held was out of the question.

It was another five minutes before he finally made his move. Hope watched him pocket the intricately designed vase, which had probably been ordered by some noble, and make for the door. Now it was time for the hard decision, did she stop him before he left the store or risk a flight through the overcrowded streets of the market. It would not be a hard decision if she was not certain that the store owner would demand compensation for all pieces that would inevitably be broken in the arrest—the prices he put on some of his stuff were a crime themselves.

The split second of decision making was gone and Hope stepped in front of the door. "You sir, are under arrest." She said, showing her Guild's Token that marked her as a bounty hunter.

There was a pause in which everyone in the store turned to watch the pair, the store owner was already reaching for the whistle to call the police. The man did not bother playing the innocent role instead he charged Hope in an attempt to knock her out of the way. Luckily she had been expecting this, reaching out she grabbed the collar of his robes, stuck her foot between his feet and spun, effectively throwing him to the ground. And unfortunately through the door.

She pounced and pinned him to the ground beneath her, "This will be a lot easier on both of us if you don't struggle." She advised and she pulled a leather band used to restrain suspects from her cloak.

The man twisted violently beneath her and caught her in the side of the head with an elbow. Temporarily stunned, Hope did her best to hold on only to be kicked off. She scrambled to her feet and followed the thief down the street in exactly the chase she had planned to avoid. Unfortunately for the thief Hope's expertise was the chase. She could run fast and far without much trouble and thrived off the thrill she got from it. She dodged and weaved through the crowd always keeping her thief in view.

The thief ducked down one of the many side alleys and Hope's adrenaline peaked, there was no doubt he knew those allies like the back of his hand and he could easily lose her in the twists and turns of the alleys if she did not catch him within the next hundred feet. Putting on an extra burst of speed and drawing one of her saber claws she followed him down the alley and around several turns before diving at the man's legs, easily bringing him to the ground. In the struggle that followed she tried her best to get the blade under the man's chin which would provide her with the best control but for the second time that day she was thrown off her target.

This time though he would not be settle with simply running away. He grabbed her by the front of her cloak and slammed her violently up against the alley wall. "You're a persistent little brat aren't you?" he sneered, slamming her against the wall again; Hope's head smacked against the stone hard enough to daze her. "I don't know how you found me but you'll regret it, little bounty hunter." He threatened.

Hope, through her unfocused eyes, saw a flash of red behind the man. A smirk crossed her lips, "That's what you think." She reached under his grip and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him close as she drove her knee into his groin. The man released her and she only just managed to keep herself standing, readjusting her grip on her saber claw she lashed out at the back of the man's knees as he turned to run. He gave a yelp as the blade cut into his skin and ligaments.

His knee gave out beneath him and the thief stumbled forward into Kana. Without saying a word the young woman grabbed her target's arm and shoved him face-first into the wall. "You're under arrest." She informed him as she slipped the leather bonds around his wrists. The man spat all forms of profanity at his captors and struggled but to no avail.

Kana turned to look at her partner, "Good run, Hope."

The brunette grinned up at her partner and gave her a thumbs up. "Back at you."

Note: Most of Hope's feelings about the Avatar are based on some personal struggles I have gone through. I understand the burden of living under the shadow of someone you can never hope to live up to. That is where the idea of the story was born from.

I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter of _Avatar's Hope_. Chapter 2 will be up soon.


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